Combining Shazam and Spotify

Using image-recognition technology, the app will identify the particular work of art and provide gallery visitors more information about the art. Anyone can then add a digital copy of the art to their phone

Thanos Kokkiniotis described the app as a combination of two music apps – Shazam and Spotify – for artwork.

It will officially launch in May for some art of the Louvre in Paris and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. All gallery works will be available to view with the app at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and the Wallace Collection in London.

And the app will be useful in more than just art galleries. Anyone can scan an image of a famous work, for example the Mona Lisa, and see the same information.

Kokkiniotis told the New Scientist that designing an app to recognize the painting wasn’t difficult because many galleries already have a digital catalog of the art. The hard part was convincing the gallery owners to let the app access that information.

While I’m not exactly an gallery fan, Smartify does sound like an interesting way to educate visitors about the art.